(CNN) -- Could the phrase "burn a disc" soon be interred in the computing graveyard, resting peacefully alongside 8-bit graphics and the chirping, buzzing hum of a dial-up modem?

Some technology analysts, along with some of the most influential computer makers in the world, say yes. Optical disc drives take up precious space in our ever-shrinking gadgets, and the ability to stream music or movies on demand has made CDs and DVDs less essential.

The disc drive's spin into obscurity may have started swirling faster last week.

Apple's new iMac, its flagship desktop computer, was released Friday. For the first time, it has no disc drive. This marks a trend that has already begun on some laptops, like Apple's MacBook Airs, and of course with mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.

"Over time, an optical disc will be as much of an historical curiosity as a floppy disk," said Michael Gartenberg, a tech-industry analyst with research firm Gartner Inc.

According to Apple, where sleeker, thinner designs are always en vogue, dumping the disc drive was a no-brainer.

"These old technologies are holding us back," Phil Schiller, Apple's head of marketing, told Time. "They're anchors on where we want to go. We find the things that have outlived their useful purpose -- our competitors are afraid to remove them. We try to find better solutions -- our customers have given us a lot of trust."

If the company's track record on such things holds, the optical drive may be doomed. The original Mac dumped the 5-inch disk for a 3.5-inch floppy, and the first iMac was one of the first desktops without a floppy disk drive.

"It's clearly a long-term trend, but Apple's always been aggressive about making moves like this sooner as opposed to later," Gartenberg said.

The company's tiny Mac Mini, for the record, has been disc drive-free since last year.

True story. My newly assembled PC doesn't have optical drive. Not even once in last few months have I felt the need of it. Installing Windows off a USB3 pen drive in flat 3 minutes is the thing that cannot be beaten by any CD or DVD

I didn't bother buying a new SATA DVD drive when I upgraded my board and my IDE drive had no port, and the only time I've missed it has been when other people want something burned and I have to copy stuff to the laptop

I didn't bother buying a new SATA DVD drive when I upgraded my board and my IDE drive had no port, and the only time I've missed it has been when other people want something burned and I have to copy stuff to the laptop

While I don't disagree that optical storage is slow and bulky (in comparison to other forms of media). I don't see it "disappearing" for quite a long time. I'd have to do a lot of conversion of all my CDs and DVDs first! Well over 500 of them in my home...

Mine died a few weeks back. I have a removable drive I use for my laptop that I use in it's place if I need to run a disk. I don't plan on buying a replacement.

I don't plan on buying one either, if I do end up with a new drive in this machine it will come from those who want things burned - I really have no use for one, with maybe one annual exception of wanting to set up ancient machines for kicks

I guess that's why there's such things as Blu-ray players you kook up to your TV.Netflix looks pretty damn clear to me running from my comp to TV, but I also have a standalone component Blu-ray player for those slim chances I may go out and rent a Blu-ray movie, in fact I actually just finished watching Jonah Hex (which I own), again, on it just cuz it's been awhile since I've used it.I actually hummed and hawed over the portable DVDRW and a Blu-ray Burner for awhile then thinking how little I actually burnt disks or used a drive, I went with the cheapest.